Initial Reaction
by Alisa Thorne
Summary: Vaughn learns the truth about his wife and Syd must deal with what she finds out about Vaughn....
1. Initial Reaction

He just stared at the screen. Eyes unblinking. He hadn't moved or spoken for what seemed like ten minutes.   
She'd let him watch the tape by himself, well, she'd watched from the cameras the CIA had placed everywhere. But seeing him standing there in that crushed, helpless state...she needed to make sure he was alright. So she slowly and quietly slipped into the room, coming up behind him.  
She reached up her hand to place it on his shoulder and then decided against it. She forced herself to stand there, straight, arms to her sides. Hesitation caressed with concern and laced with kindness came out as she spoke.   
  
"Vaughn...are you alright?"  
  
For what seemed like another eternity he was still motionless. Then he closed his eyes tightly and let his head hang.  
  
"She's Covenant."  
  
It was a matter of fact statement. Not a question at all. He hadn't been told, but the tape of his "wife" meeting with new Covenant boss Mr. Sark was pretty much a dead ringer.   
He slowly turned around to the women behind him and couldn't believe his luck. Her face, those beautiful eyes, the soft sweet smell of her hair. He loved her. And she loved him. And up until a few hours ago, all they could do about it was avoid each other. Vaughn was a married man, and he had sworn to be loyal and faithful to his wife. Of course, then again, so did she. And she deceived him. Hell, she decieved the whole damn Country. She betrayed him, and suddenly, Michael Vaughn had a new found respect for Jack Bristow.   
Sydney shook him from his thoughts as she began to speak.  
  
"Vaughn, she is on her way back here from a 'buisness trip.' You are to pretend like you've never heard or seen this information. You've got to keep your act up."  
  
How could she say that? Keep my "act up." As if there was no emotion involved at all? He felt like he should defend himself at this point but instead just turned back to the screen and ran a hand down his face nodding.  
  
This time, Sydney did reach her hand up to grasp his shoulder as she closed the small gap between. She came to stand beside him as her gaze focused on the screen. The imprint of Vaughn's wife and Sark standing face to face, frozen in time.  
She was. Lauren Reed was Covenant. She'd infiltrated the CIA and had scammed Vaughn. At least, that's what she'd been told. But then again, it's hard to trust anyone in this buisness. The tape in front of them was proof of that.  
Syd didn't want to be the one who told him but had gotten nominated when Weiss came down with a cold. Some excuse.   
How he must be feeling. Betrayed. Tortured. Hurt. She glanced up to him and found him staring at her instead of the screen. She gave him a questioning look when she read his own expression. It was odd. Could it have been guilt?  
  
"Sydney..."  
  
Vaughn pulled a pen from his pocket and clicked it allowing there to be an interference with the network so they could speak freely for thirty seconds. A trick Sydney and her father often used at SD-6.  
  
"Sydney, I know. I know Lauren is Covenant. I've known since day one. She was supposed to think she successfully penitrated the CIA as a mole. We think she might lead us..."  
  
Vaughn stopped short as the pen clicked back up. His gaze coming up to meet Sydney's tormented and confused eyes. His rushed state had been replaced by the previous hurt and shocked one.   
Sydney's hand jumped off of Vaughn's shoulder immediatly. As if it had grown too hot under her skin. He couldn't have missed the pain and anger in her eyes as she backed away half a step, thousands of questions closing in on her as she tried to breath. She just shook her head once, turned on her heel and pushed through the exit door as fast as she could, leaving Vaughn to deal with the sitaution and his next move, by himself. 


	2. For Your Sake

Sydney pushed herself up against the wall directly outside the doors of the room she'd just left. She needed the support or she feared she'd collapse right there in the Centre. She took a few calming breaths, that, to be honest, didn't do very much. Syd focused on calming herself down and collecting herself together, all the while focusing on many questions.  
  
'What was he thinking? He knows she's Covenant...All this time? And he played along with it? Does Lauren know more about those two years of my life? Does that mean Vaughn is really married?'   
  
That last thought made her stand straight up on her own. However, another passing question brought on an unwanted wave of nausea and sent her backwards towards the wall again.  
  
'Is Vaughn Covenant too?'  
  
Sydney shook her head and dismissed the thought almost as quickly as it came. There was no way Michael Vaughn was working against the CIA. She knew him and he...  
  
Mid-thought she stopped herself. She realized she didn't know him at all. Not anymore. So much had changed in those twenty four months. More then either of them would like to have admitted to.  
  
By this time Vaughn himself had exited the room and was standing in front of her. He went to speak but she cut him off, bringing her hand up to hault his words.   
  
"Sydney..."  
  
She sucked in a quick breath before letting it rush out in words.  
  
"Don't Vaughn. I hope, for your sake, that you are telling the truth. Because if your story doesn't check out..."  
  
She stopped, not wanting to imagine what would happen if it didn't.   
Her forcefull and hurried demeanor was quickly replaced by the cool calm one as she tucked a few strands of loose hair behind her ear and pushed past him, heading to her desk.  
She left Vaughn standing there looking like a puppy who had just been scolded by his master. He turned in a trance as his eyes followed her trail.  
  
He did it. He did it again. He was the one that was causing her pain, again. He managed to hurt yet once more, the one person in the world that he couldn't stand to see suffer. He was getting really very good at it.   
But she didn't understand. He was only doing his job. And he was about to head over to her and let her know that when Jack Bristow came up next to him and in his stictly buisness voice spoke in hushed tones to Vaughn.  
  
"Sydney is going to begin to construct her own investigation. Make sure you've covered your tracks Mr. Vaughn. We can't take the risk."  
  
Jack glanced over Vaughn's now expressionless face and concluded he'd done his job and everything was taken care of. Once Vaughn nodded, Jack stalked off towards his daughter.  
  
He watched them. Sydney looked no more troubled then she had before she stepped into the room.   
Damn she was good at that. But Vaughn could see right through her. Inside, all she wanted to do was fall apart.   
However, as much as he wanted to fix everything he'd just screwed up, he pushed himslef off the wall and headed for the doors.   
  
He had to pick his wife up from the airport. 


	3. Living in a Puzzle

Time reaching the early morning hours, Sydney sat on her bed, legs crossed in that twisted Indian style. There was a glass of red wine on the night stand beside her, papers and folders spread out in a disarray in front of her. She'd been pouring over reports, studies, research, briefs and debriefs for hours on end it seemed. Everything she'd managed to gather on "Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn" stared her in the face. It was like a puzzle, only not one piece fit with another. She was at her end. A dead end. The information was, by now, burned into her brain she'd looked at each piece with such care.  
  
"Damn it."  
  
Letting out an exasperated sigh, she'd throw herself backwards onto the mound of pillows that were propped up behind her.   
Jesus she didn't even know what she was looking for.  
  
"Get a grip Syd...there has to be something. There's always something..."  
  
She'd mumble under her breath feeling like what she was looking for was staring her right in the face, yet she still couldn't find it. A missing link perhaps that wasn't allowing her to hook Vaughn to anything.  
  
But still. He knew. At some point, in the two long years she'd been Julia Thorne, he'd managed to get himself married to an undercover covenant spy and he knew it....How does that happen?!  
  
Suddenly she found her thoughts drifting and a small smile touched her lips...  
  
"So I did it..."  
  
"Did what?"  
  
"Booked the hotel"  
  
I remember not believing what he'd just said. I was so overjoyed at the fact of getting away with just Vaughn. Not Agent and former Handler...Just Sydney Bristow and Michael Vaughn...  
  
"Vaughn"  
  
She'd snap back to the cruel present that had become her life. And unbeknownst to her, by now tears started to fall from her eyes.   
  
It hurts to think of how happy we were. It hurts even more to realize that happiness may not exist ever again in either of our worlds. I know he loves her...or loved her...  
  
Sydney jumped off her bed starring at the papers. All this time she'd been looking for the answers to the wrong questions. She was trying to find out something that would make Vaughn innocent and Lauren the ultimate evil. Well, of course Lauren was the evil one...  
  
"She works for the covenant"  
  
Sydney spat out in an overtly obvious way to the empty and dimly lit room.  
A delicate hand would run down her face as she turned her back to the bed and picked up her glass up to drain the red sweet liquid. She could feel her exhaustion taking over and decided it best to quit for the night and get some rest. There was a long day awaiting her, facing Lauren, Vaughn. Both of them, together. Smiles included. The very thought made her skin all but crawl as she transferred the documents from her bed to the floor in the designated piles. Then she'd climb into her oversized bed and after about an hour more of tossing theories back and forth in her mind, Sydney fell into a restless sleep...and a dream that would provide more then enough questions.   



	4. Meeting

"I thought you would be interested in knowing, it has beep confirmed that Agent Bristow is aware of Mrs. Reed's involvement in your organization." Vaughn leaned casually up against the parking garage's stair railing as he measured a ook at the British twerp. Sometimes he'd like nothing more then to reach out and wrap his hands firmly around his throat and simply squeeze for all he was worth. Instead, his hands remained stationed in his suit pocket, one gripping it's contents: two small disks. "Yes. And it has come to my attention that she knows that you yourself, were in fact aware of this tidbit of information." That arrogant, cocky accent broke through the dark heavy silence after a few moments. He moved into the dim light slowly, black expensive suit complimented with a slate gray silk tie. His normal everyday attire that drove Vaughn nuts. "It was leaked that I had prior knowledge of my wife's role within the covenant. However. The only thing this changes is the fact that Sydney Bristow will drive herself near insane trying to figure out what it is I am "up to." "Giving this women's track record I don't believe that she will continuously turn up empty handed." "You need to leave Bristow up to me. I am more familiar with her methods and ways. I've worked with her longer. I'll take care of it." Mr. Sark's steely eyes surveyed Michael's expression as he made a "come here" motion with his hand. Vaughn's eyes flicked over Sarks' shoulder as a slender blonde stepped from a black car that hid in the shadows, Vaughn had to shake his head at the sight and the whole "cloak and dagger" routine that they'd gotten used to as of late. Lauren glanced around a few times as her heels announced her indiscreet arrival. Coming before Sark and her husband, she'd tuck a few strands of hair behind her ear and Vaughn couldn't help but flash back miserably to Sydney. "Good afternoon Michael." Lauren would breathe as she came beside Sark, a hand being placed on his shoulder from behind. She made no qualms about making sure that since Vaughn knew who she was and who she was working for, that she was as free as a bird to be as noncommittal to their marriage as she wanted. "I assume you've brought what we've requested."  
Words drifted from Lauren's blush painted lips that held a sickening and evil grin. And for half a second Vaughn would hesitate knowing what he was handing over could ruin Sydney's life, even end it. But he had to trust the people he was working with. He had to know that they were doing their job as he stood in the dark corner of that garage.  
His hands came out of his suit pocket, two small disks being handed over to the pair. Lauren would reach out and take them both, then after glancing at each she'd hand them to her "partner in crime." Sark would then place them into his pocket as Vaughn watched him. The motions seemed to happen slowly. He could somehow see some of his worst fears being confirmed as his own wife turned with Sark and headed back to their car, prized possessions in hand. Vaughn could only stare at the taillights as they disappeared, and once the red lights were no longer visible, his eyes slipped shut and his head hung forward in a heavy way. The ringing of his cell phone was what jolted him back to his normal alert status. "Hello." "Vaughn..." Sydney. It was Sydney. His heart jumped for joy when he realized it was her. Then remembering what he'd just done, and what was coming, that same light heart squeezed and sunk in anger and pain. Cruel reality hit him even further when he heard her voice. It was broken, heavy with anxiety, perhaps fear, but an all knowing sadness as he could tell she was trying to choke back sobs. "Sydney what is it. What's the matter."  
"I need to talk to you..."  
"..Okay, okay I'll meet you at the pier in half an hour." The dial tone rang in Vaughn's ear and he realized that she'd hung up. At least, he hoped that was the case. He pushed himself off the railing and headed towards his car. Panic almost encased him by the time he began driving out of the garage which caused him to press his foot to the pedal that much harder. "Go."  
The female voice in the passenger seat of that black Focus spoke to the driver. Since they needed to be sure Mr. Vaughn was not double crossing them so to speak, tabs needed to be kept on him. Which included a tracking device on his car...him... "Whatever you say love." 


	5. Missing So Much

"It happened in flashes, Imprints in my mind rather then a full out dream."Sydney was leaning on the pier overlooking the Pacific Ocean, her words coming out and not making complete sense. She was still in a state of shock, a state of panic.

She was of course speaking of the dream she'd had the night before. The one that took place in the missing two years of her life. The one where Vaughn had been involved with Julia Thorne. The one where Jack had been involved with Julia Thorne.   
Sydney's head was spinning as she tried to answer the questions that threatened to overcome her complete control.

"Syd, I need complete sentences here, I have no idea of what you're talking about." His voice was gentle, still cautious and treading lightly because of the earlier conversation that they'd had about his own involvement with The Covenant. And tonight, instead of reaching over to comfort her the way he always used to, he kept his distance, leaning on the pier rail a good three feet away from her. Something akin to fear racked through him as she spoke, it seemed that Vaughn hadn't done his job as well as he'd thought. But it's hard to stop a subconscious. "Last night I had a dream. A code, a vault number on a piece of paper that Lauren had given me. But it wasn't me Vaughn it was Julia. And we were civil to each other, as if we were truly working on the same team." She was being careful not to give too much away. She wasn't about to give him that code, the number, not even if he asked. She'd slip him a fake one, anymore she didn't know who to trust and who to suspect, so she figured grouping everyone under the title of suspect was the safest way to go.She glanced over to find Vaughn staring at her, the look on his face implied he thought she was crazy. But she wasn't. The dream was as real and vivid as if she'd lived it. Which was what was making her crazy. What if she had lived it. She had evidence that she was Julia Thorne. Her alias was Julia Thorne. But where did Lauren, Vaughn and her Father come into the picture. Did she honestly have contact with them during those two years? And if she had, was she meant to remember it, or was this a fluke?

"Alright. Syd, is there a possibility that you could have been psychologically reconditioned? That this dream was planted in your subconscious?

He watched as she was frantically trying to put pieces of this "dream" together. He was sure they'd wiped out her entire memory, after all, that was what the doctor had said. And Sark and Lauren had been standing right there when the doctor had come out of the procedure, he'd confirmed it. God, if only she knew what he was doing, what the CIA was doing...that Rambaldi prophecy would be true. She would render the greatest power unto utter desolation. And Lord help whomever was in her path.

"No, I don't think so, why would someone go through all the trouble of reconditioning me and then wiping my memory as well? I just feel like I'm missing something. And it's obviously staring me in the face."

She turned away from the Ocean to look at Vaughn. He had this horrible look on his face. He never was well at hiding his thoughts, they were always shone through his deep green eyes. Even though it was night time, dark, the lights from the inlet's mini amusement park lit shadows across his face.

He was going to ask about the code next. She knew it. But just as he was about to say something, his words were bit back by the sound of a pager going off. As soon as he looked down to his hip, Sydney's pager sounded as well. She didn't even look down to see who it was. She knew. Her eyes stayed on him. And as his lifted to look at her, they shared a moment. That same kind moment they would share as they stared across the briefing table at each other. When she was a double for SD-6 and there was nothing they could do about their attraction because of Sloan. Now it was Lauren that held as their barrier. They both turned and walked back to their cars in silence, destination: The Rotunda.  



End file.
